Facing an increasing intermodal competition and radical social and demographical changes, Regional Rail Transport (RRT) in Central Europe has to be improved. Traditionally RRT has focused on large groups of passengers such as commuters and tourists. With settlement structures and places of employment dispersing and leisure activities diversifying RRT more and more has to adapt its offer to passenger groups that are more difficult to attract and that have so far been neglected.In this context the project INTER-Regio-Rail is going to show how to successfully adapt RRT to the needs and expectations of their today's and potential passengers. The improved offer will support the balanced development of all participating regions. The project will focus on elderly people, intermodal and interregional travelers and contribute to reduce the barriers for using RRT. Achievements: All over Europe, 196 authorities are organizing and financing regional passenger rail transport services. The authorities are all facing the same challenges: To make the most of their scarce public budget and to organise the best possible service for passengers, taking into account increasing intermodal competition and social and demographical changes. INTER-Regio-Rail has helped them in very practical ways: In 2011 the partners published a compendium on passenger rail transport in Europe containing facts on the framework conditions of the work of the authorities, and in 2012 the German, French, Italian and Czech associations jointly held a conference of European passenger rail authorities in Strasbourg. Throughout project implementation, the partners realised regional pilots in the fields of station and network infrastructure development, integration of different groups of passengers, rail transport across national borders and intermodal transport. The pilots have demonstrated how regional passenger rail transport can be improved, and findings and lessons learnt are available for interested authorities. In parallel current political issues of the European Union were closely followed and communicated in newsletters, laying the ground for a future network of European passenger rail authorities. Contacts to key stakeholders and decision-makers were used to promote issues related to the work of regional passenger rail authorities in the process of policy development on EU level. For example, the fourth railway package will heavily influence the work of passenger rail authorities in the coming years, since it will define the framework of competition in rail transport and set the rules of how the infrastructure managers will be organised. INTER-Regio-Rail has coordinated joint positions of European passenger rail authorities and took part in processes of consultation and discussion. By their participation in the process the partners gave European decision-makers the chance to improve organization, legislation and financing of rail transport in Europe. The networking with associations of passenger rail authorities throughout Europe has been further intensified. In May 2013 the final conference of the project in Bologna has brought the results of the regional pilots to public notice, and conclusions from joint work were delivered to stakeholders. One of the goals of the network is to make the current successful cooperation last. With this aim representatives from the passenger rail authorities´ associations from France (GART), Italy (Federmobilita), the Czech Republic (CAOVD) and Germany (BAG-SPNV) jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the future cooperation of passenger rail authorities in Europe. For more information please have a look at www.interregiorail.eu